Motherland Stomp Day 17 - Klamath!

I got some good rest last night and am pretty much over the skimboard marathon! I got up early and checked out Talant and Ashland, OR. The two towns are within minutes of each other. The parks are older but good still and I had fun rolling around this morning. It is great to get out and just check out new parks everyday. I must say that I am missing that amoeba at Wilson! I love that bowl even when I am sick of it!



So I got some picks of Talent but none from Ashland. My camera died just as I got in there but you can look it up on Northwestskater.com.

Talent had this weird bowl/spine thing happening and a pretty nice street course.

Pics:

The highlight of the day was the drive on Rt66 (not sure if it is THE 66). The landscape was amazing. You could literally see the division from the Northern California landscape and the Oregon landscape just outside of Ashland. I must say that Ashland is a really nice little town to walk around and spend money in. If I had a girlfriend with I am sure I would not have gotten out of there too quick!


So back to the drive, crazy winding mountain roads, red rock, big drop offs and the whole lot!! Just plain beautiful! I saw a sign for the Siskiyou Nat' Monument so I pulled off on this gravel road and drove up the mountain. After about a half hour, I got kind of curious - Where is the monument??? I kept going and eventually the gravel stopped and I was going up rutted dirt roads. There were mountain men and people building shelters along the way. I finally realized, I am in the monument dummy! This land, this area is the National Monument!! Ugh




It was a great experience though and I was very happy to be there. Once I got back to Rt 66 it was about another hour to my destination. I was trying to get to BLM area outside of Keno, OR. I was totally stoked when i found it. The campsites were on the side of a nice bluff. There is a rad lake there and all kinds of hiking trails and stuff. I got a great spot and hope that my tent is there when i head back tonight!! There were a few people camped already so who knows what will happen when I get back.




I had a PBJ by the lake and headed out to Klamath Falls, OR, just 20 miles away.



The directions from Skateoregon.com where a little mixed up but I did finally find the place. It is within this huge sports complex? Weird. When I got in the place, this dude gave the a schpeal about how the sports complex is trying to get the park bulldozed and they are there to keep it open. They monitor the park and get grants for kids, blah blah, give us a dollar. So I gave him a dollar and skated for over 3 hours!!


The park is amazing and very big! Dreamland did this one and it shows. Excellent craftsmanship and features for all level of rider. There are all kinds of snake runs, small quarter pipes little pump bumps and like 5 bowls in the park. Each bowl is unique and very different from anything I have skated.


There is a square walled bowl, a tiny peanut with no coping, a "johnson" or "penis" shaped bowl with a gnarly roll in, a cool cradle and big channel (reminder of the Turf). There is a huge snake run that dumps into another Mega bowl like at Lincoln City. And finally a crazy octopus bowl. It features a five pocket shallow end and a big mellow rounded deep end.




I rode this one the most and it was crazy weird. The deep end was really mellow and the shallow was not tight transition wise but the pocket themselves were probably 4-5 half radius turns so it was quick. Dreamland is into these tight pockets. I have seen them at Mt. Hood, Lincoln City and even at Lake Delton, WI.


I ran into this dude from SO Cal, Jimmy "The Fence". Cool guy, I skated with him a bit at Battlegroud, WA. He was on a skate trip also - riding a Harley form Washington Street to Seattle and back!! Cool trip! Like I said, if I do this again, I am gonna hit the Portland area again and then head north and do Astoria, St. Helens, Glenview, and then up to Washington - Seattle, Orcas island, etc.,


It was a good day though and I am now in my coffee shop mode, enjoying the rest of this afternoon. Tomorrow I head to second leg of the Motherland Stomp to the Motherland - California!! 1st stop, Weed, Ca and on to Sacramento!!

Motherland Stomp Day 16

Well, it rained all night long. But I did manage to get some decent sleep. I was really afraid that I would wake up in a pool of water, but that would be better than a pool of blood!! I found a great campsite that ended up being free. I pulled in and set up camp early. I was pretty sore from the skim marathon still. After about an hour this freaky old blazer pulled in across the way. This dude with the most serious short long ever (the back was super long and the top of his head was bald) got out of the car and disappeared . After about an hour another old car pulled up. He ended up running out of gas and must have went for more. The people that were with him were even more Deliverance-ish and I was kinda not into that. So I hiked up the hill and waited until they left. Luckily they never came back. I did sleep with the crowbar next to me again.

It was an excellent night other than that. Nobody around for miles, it was so quiet - I played my guitar for hours and did the nightly journal and stuff. I even built a fire but never lit it. At about 10pm it started to rain and it never stopped. I woke up in the middle of the night and my hair was all wet and my feet/sleeping bag by my feet were soaked. I am just a little too tall for the tent so I was getting condensation. But other than that all was good.

I got up and headed into town to the first spot, Myrtle Point. I was kinda not into it again. The park was not all bad but the flow/streetcourse connected into the bowl and I hate that. I really prefer closed bowls/pools. The deep was about 9' with 2' of vert. There was a cool hipped wallride thing and some other decent features. I was interested in the deep end. Trying to size up my vert ramp the same transitions but only 8' high with 1' of vert is what I want. I originally was gonna do 24' wide but the barn is only 30' x 45' so it would take most of the barn up... I may just do 16' wide. I just want to get some shit this winter and transfer it to these big parks.

I moved on to Grants Pass, OR. I took my time and enjoyed mountain views the whole way. It is so nice to drive through and stay in all this great country. I am still not all that bummed that the parks are not awesome.





I got into Grants Pass in the late morning but was totally not feeling this one either. I spent some time on it. It has potential but the poor is not so good and the coping is ok. The bowl is like a snake run that dumps into a kind of clover/combi. It is not over gnar either. The square bowl has the really weird generic pool coping on it. It looks like they put down metal coping and then covered it with concrete? Ugh. Not that I am that stuck up but it was what it is.

SO I then moved on to Medford, i decided to get camping just outside of Medford, hit that park and Jacksonville and then hit the rest tomorrow. There are like 5 parks in the Medford area. However, they are all older and just not up to par with the Dreamland/Grindline parks up north. SO, I wish I knew this when i had planned to head south. I heard they were not as good but I just figured any park in Oregon is gonna rule!! But you have to argue that they are older parks and stuff that was built in 2000 is just not the same as the parks done since 2004?

Medford is probably the worst bowl in Oregon that I have been to so far. The weird coping is there again, goofy transitions, bad poor and the design. Well two square bowls with a crows nest drop in - I guess they were trying to do a combi thing. The water fall is super steep and deep. Garbage everywhere and just not too inviting. Helmet law to boot - - 100 dolla fine. I was out before i barely got in.




Jacksonville had potential. It looked like Dreamland or Grindline came in and added to what was already there. SO, the park is divided in half - great poor and good coping on one side and well, the other side. The only problem is it just does not flow as it should because they added on to a bad design. I really hate to be dogging parks but they are what they are. If it was all I had I would ride it every day. But, I drove over 4000miles so far and I want radicalness!!




I may just head straight for Klamath Falls tomorrow because I just can't keep riding this stuff for only an hour and want to leave... I may spend a little more time in Cali anyway and get some seriousness in at Weed, Mammoth, San Jose, Santa Cruz, and then to the LA area... I just have to get a map and find campgrounds and cheap hotels when I have to.

Motherland Stomp Day 15? - spoiled

I am having trouble figuring out if today was 14 or 15?? Ugh. Anyway – I did not get a very good night of sleep last night. There were a couple of ding bats next to me messing around all night. They moved there car at one point and then were told by the camp host around 1am to put it back to the parking spot. I was just trying to crash so I have no idea what they were up too??



But I got going and headed south along the coast. It was raining but I really wasn’t that bummed. The parks south of Lincoln City are not much to speak of. They are Airspeed parks, which is a company that I am not totally into. I checked a few out though.


My first stop was Waldport. This park has the cool funnel. There is some stamped brick on some spots but the design seems a bit odd. It was raining so I can’t fully comment on the park. Not bad. Kinda cool.

I kept cruising down 101 and stopped at several waysides. There is much to see on the Oregon coast so like I said, I was not at all bummed. I was so sore from skimming yesterday anyway. I over did it. I got to see some Sea Lions and other wildlife and cool stuff like that. I took video but they do not seem to be uploading well today. I ‘ll have to try to post it up later.




I stopped off at another weird Airspeed park in Florence, OR. This one was a little better. There was this female skater there that was pretty moxy-ish. She was all tuff and said “well, are you gonna look or are you gonna skate!!” The park is a flow that bowls into the streetcourse, I was lucky not too many people were there. It would be a big collision course otherwise. They have a small funnel that snakes around a 10’ wall and oververt where you don’t expect it.


I had some fun there, spent an hour or so. Just kinda feelin’ it, getting loose from my skim sesh. I was kinda in the mood to keep going and going. I stopped at this little place for a big breakfast though. Good food! It was in this old lady’s house – she basically converted her house into a restaurant. You could even see the washer/dryer, etc. Good food though!!

I then headed into Reedsport. This was highly recommended. It is also an Airspeed park but better than the others. However, the parks just do not seem to flow well. It is like, nothing adds up in there. You kinda really have to search for lines. If I was with a group or stoked at all, I would have spent more time here. It is really good, but there was a lot going on at this point.





The thug locals were all yelling at some kid who was afraid to drop in and transferring from one bowl to the next without any kind of order. There was also a house on fire right next to the park!! Firefighters, cops, ambulance, the whole lot… I spied a great coffee shop so that one won out. I skated here for about an hour too but I was just not feeling it. I am spoiled by all of the greatness near Portland, Montana, etc… especially Lincoln City. I am trying to figure out my next plan of attack here. It is difficult to decide but I guess I am gonna hit Myrtle Point (tonight or tomorrow), I may just cruise through Roseburg and then head down to the Medford area… and on to Klamath. I just have to time the camping right because the dreaded weekend is coming and that is always dicey with stateparks and such…

Motherland Stomp Day 14 – continued – Newport skatepark and the Beach – screw the skatepark – go skimmin’!!!

So I drove only like 30 miles today, ha! The next stop was only like two towns down the coast. There are beach communities everywhere and surf everywhere. Maybe not big surf but good enough for us Chicago ducks. And you know there won’t be much of that locals only stuff either.

I got into town and drove around a bit – I got my campsite at South Beach State Park around 3pm. Chilled for a bit in my tent because this morning’s skim sesh really wore me out. Oh, and I skated Lincoln City for hours again. So it was great to just chill for a while, eat a PBJ and regroup. Something I have not done yet!

The campground is sucky but beggers can’t be choosers when you are in such a busy area. I would definitely make sure you have either reservations or come during the week. Monday afternoon even had no vacancy signs on some of the campgrounds. Lots of people obviously go to the coast on the weekends and summer...


Traffic around here is crappy. So after many u-turns, pull-in’s and MF’s, I finally found the Newport skatepark. I drove around way too much for this thing. It is worse than the descriptions online. The Check Republic dudes where there shredding and then speaking about the horridness of the finish and even video taping how bad it is. I mean, if there were no other parks around it would be the shit. And it certainly is better than 31st street or Northbrook for that matter but the finish is rough.

I was just not into it and I spyed a killer skim spot with multiple streams heading into the ocean a few miles back. So I was all about hitting that up!!! When I got there I felt like I was in the movie Point Break or something – not to geek out but yes – it was really cool puling up to the ocean and all. I wish I was surfing but the skim is the shit.


I was out there for hours and hours and hours!! The conditions changed every 5 minutes and the skim went on for ever and ever!! I never had so many long runs and by the end of the day was getting 180s and revert and even 360s!! Tricks are for kids but that stuff is fun. You won’t catch me doin’ shove its and rails and that shit - - Danforth does not approve of that.


There were some surfers going out as I was leaving. But the waves seemed like beach break waves. They kept moving around and I could see how the surfers were getting frustrated. But when they hit they were pretty good. Probably about as good as the best day on Lake Michigan but with salt water. I was even feeling a bit of buoyancy with my skimboard. By the end of the day I was cruising down the beach and hitting waves and floating over them for a few seconds.

So anyway, good times were had today!!!

I took some footy but it is so so - -